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Iran Missile Strikes in Syria Reveal Its Potential Military Weakness
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Farzin Nadimi - On June 18, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired six Zolfaqar medium-range missiles 600 km. across Iraqi territory at Islamic State targets in eastern Syria. Iranian media have released five video clips supposedly recorded by overflying drones showing two missile impacts - actually near misses - north and south of the town of Mayadin in Deir al-Zour province. None of the targets appeared to sustain direct hits, although impacts seem to have occurred 50 and 150 meters away. According to a Syrian source quoted in the Times of Israel, the missile strikes caused no casualties. According to Israeli military sources, several of the Iranian missiles actually landed in the Iraqi desert, with three other missiles missing their targets entirely and only one or two coming close, indicating serious reliability problems. The missile strike shows Iran is probably grappling with serious quality-control issues.